Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her 8-year-old son Gideon are presumed dead.

Maeve and her son were canoeing in the Chesapeake Bay, which is near her mother Kathleen's home in Shady Side, Maryland when they disappeared. The United States Coast Guard officials announced on Friday (April 3) that they discovered their capsized canoe, miles from shore. The search has been officially called off after a grueling 26-hour search that covered over 3,600 square miles.

The 40-year-old mother and human rights lawyer is the granddaughter of the former U.S. Attorney General Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy.

Her husband, David McKean, shared a lengthy Facebook post on Friday (April 3) where he addressed his wife and son's passing. "I am writing here to address the countless people who have loved my wife Maeve and my son Gideon," he began. "As many of you have seen, they went missing in the Chesapeake Bay yesterday afternoon. I tried to reach out personally to as many people as possible before the news became public. However, I know that I was only able to scratch the surface. For those of you learning of this news here, I am sorry. I know Maeve would have loved for you to have gotten a personal call."

He revealed that the search for their recovery will continue on and he hopes that it will be successful. David explained that they were self-quarantining from the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kathleen's house to give their three children more space to play.

Maeve and Gideon played kickball when the ball was kicked into the water, so they got into a canoe to retrieve the ball and "somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay." An onlooker saw them from shore and called the police 30 minutes after they went into the canoe.